Miniature scroll winding and display device

ABSTRACT

A cigarette lighter is shown having a recess in one edge thereof. A frame having a guide wall and a pair of parallel, rotatable arbors is mounted in the recess. A scroll having its ends coupled to the arbors extends over the guide wall. Gears are mounted on the arbors to control movement of the scroll. Resilient means are mounted on the frame to hold the scroll in a taut configuration. A cover member conforming to the normal configuration of the lighter is releasably secured over the recess to hold the frame in place. A window is provided in the cover member in line with the guide wall to permit viewing of the scroll, a manually actuable gear extends through a slot in the cover member to permit positioning of the scroll.

ilite States Patent I191 [111 3,785,o75 Nayior, ,lr. 1 Jan. 15, 1974 MINIATURE SCROLL WINDING AND DISPLAY DEVICE [75] Inventor: Walter G. Naylor, Jr., Sioux City,

Iowa

[73] Assignee: Diane Didier Enterprises, llnc., Sioux City, Iowa [22] Filed: Aug. 17, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 172,526

[52] 11.8. CI. 40/94 [51] Int. Cl. G09f 11/24 [58] Field of Search 40/117, 21 C, 86-88, 40/93-95; 206/38 R, 41.3, 41.4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 937,981 10/1909 2,116,292 5/1938 3,179,891 4/1965 3,174,241 3/1965 1,660,278 2/i928 3,526,985 9/1970 3,611,602 10/1971 Gandelman et a1 40/117 1,968,444 7/1934 Farber 40/117 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 11/1923 France 40/117 4/1890 Germany 40/117 [57] ABSTRACT A cigarette lighter is shown having a recess in one edge thereof. A frame having a guide wall and a pair of parallel, rotatable arbors is mounted in the recess. A scroll having its ends coupled to the arbors extends over the guide wall. Gears are mounted on the arbors to control movement of the scroll. Resilient means are mounted on the frame to hold the scroll in a taut con figuration. A cover member conforming to the normal configuration of the lighter is releasably secured over the recess to hold the frame in place. A window is provided in the cover member in line with the guide wall to permit viewing of the scroll, a manually actuable gear extends through a slot in the cover member to permit positioning of the scroll.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJM 15 m4 sum 1 8F 2 INVENTOR. 044m? 6'. M91401; JR. BY

MINIATURE SCROLL WINDING ANll) DISPLAY DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to manually positionable tape display devices and more particularly relates to a miniaturized device wherein an indicia carrying tape or scroll can be transferred from one arbor to another, the arbors being rotatable by manually operable gears.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior art devices of this kind have normally been utilized to move a calendar strip past a viewing window. In one prior art device, the tape extends in opposite directions from a viewing window, over a pair of idler rollers and the ends are connected to a pair of parallel, rotatable arbors. A gear is mounted on each arbor and a third gear is engaged therebetween. A setting knob is attached to the third gear to position the calendar. No means areprovided to adjust or take up any slack in the tape so considerable care must be taken to insure that the tape is initially connected in a taut condition.

If a device of this kind is to be miniaturized so that it can be used on items such as cigarette lighters, watch bracelets and the like, it is desirable that a minimum number of elements be used and that the structure be kept as uncomplicated as possible. In general, prior art devices have employed more gears and other mechanisms than necessary and have still failed to provide any means of keeping the tape in a taut condition. The Rieth U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,985 that issued Sept. 8, 1970 discloses a very complicated mechanism for controlling movement of the tape and for keeping the tape in a taut condition.

Other prior art U.S. Pats. of interest are Stelter No. 690,670, issued Jan. 7, 1902; Fairey No. 1,770,769, issued July 15, 1930; and Farber No. 1,968,444, issued July 31,1934.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides devices that are simple and easy to manufacture, for selectively moving an indicia carrying tape past a viewing window. The two arbors to which the ends of the tape are connected each have gears that can be rotated to selectively position the tape. A manually actuable gear having an edge portion extending through the casing is provided. The unit is designed so that it can be quickly and easily removed from its mounting for replacement of the tape. Means are mounted in the unit to apply a predetermined amount of tension to the tape to maintain it in a taut condition. These and other features of the present invention will become more apparent in the detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in top plan of a scroll winding device of the present invention mounted in a cigarette lighter, portions thereof being broken away;

FIG. .2 is an exploded view of thecomponents of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the scroll winding mechanism taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 5 is a view in top plan of the alternate embodiment, portions thereof being broken away; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment: Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the several views to indicate like elements of the invention, there is disclosed in FIGS. 1-3 a cigarette lighter having a casing 10 with parallel side walls connected by parallel edge walls. A recess 11 is formed in one edge wall and the adjoining side walls of casing 10, as shown in FIG. 2. Recess 11 has a bottom surface 12 and opposite end surfaces 13 and 14.

Mounted in the recess 11 is a scroll winding device which includes a frame 15 having a pair of spaced, parallel side walls 15a and 15b connected by a top wall 15c having an upper guide surface. Top wall 15c is shorter than side walls 15a and 15b and as best shown in FIG. 3, the end edges 15d and 15e are rounded or curled downwardly to permit easy pasage of the tape thereover.

A pair of parallel arbors l7 and 18 extend between and are rotatably mounted in the side walls 15a and 15b, below the plane of the upper guide surface of top wall 150. Arbor 17 is located below top wall 15c, and arbor 18 is located beyond end edge 15s. A pair of toothed gears 17a and 18a are mounted on arbors 17 and 18 respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, gears 17a and 18a are engaged for common rotation of the two arbors l7 and 18. The gears and arbors can be freely rotated together in either direction. As shown in FIG. 3, arbor 18 and gear 18a are positioned such that one edge portion of gear 18a extends above frame 15.

A tape-like scroll or strip 20 having indicia printed thereon or otherwise carried thereby, is looped around top wall and has its opposite ends coupled to the arbors 17 and 18 for common rotation therewith. As shown in FIG. 3, a selected portion of scroll 20 is positioned on the upper guide surface of top wall 15c with one end thereof passing over curved end edge lSe and under arbor 18 for connection thereto. The other end of tape 20 passes over curved end edge 15d and then extends under arbor 17 for connection therewith. It can be seen that if gear 18a is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3, tape 20 will be transferred from roll or arbor 18 to arbor 17. If gear 18a is rotated in a counterclockwise direction tape 20 will be transferred from arbor 17 to arbor 18, thus sequentially passing different portions of the tape over the guide surface of top wall 150.

A resilient, sponge rubber block 21 is adhesively secured to the bottom surface of top wall 150 so as to engage the inner surface of tape 20 as shown in FIG. 3. Block 21 is sufficiently large so that it will be compressed between the scroll 20 and the wall 15c. The resilient block 21 will thus constantly force the tape 20 outwardly to take up any slack in the tape and maintain it in a taut condition. Without this feature, there would normally be some slack in the tape because of manufacturing tolerances and assembly problems. If slack were present in the tape, there would be delay between movement of the gears and movement of the tape past the viewing window, later to be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, end surface 14 slopes upwardly that recess 11 is wider at the top than at the bottom. The front ends of frame side walls a and 15b are cut at a similar angle so that they fit snugly against sloping end surface 14. The opposite ends of frame side walls 15a and 15b are generally square and fit directly against end surface 13, which is also positioned at 90 from bottom surface 12. End surface 14 is also provided with a raised center portion 14a having opposite side walls that fit snugly between the two frame side walls 15a and 15b to prevent lateral movement thereof.

When frame 15 is assembled with the tape, the arbors and gears as shown in FIG. 3, and then placed in recess 11, the frame side walls 15a and 15b are spaced inwardly of the casing side walls and the top wall 15c is positioned below but parallel to the plane of the casing edge wall. A cover member 23 is then provided to hold frame 15 in the recess 11. Cover member 23 is shaped to conform to the normal outer configuration of casing 10. As shown in FIG. 2, cover member 23 has an edge wall 230 and parallel side walls 23b and 230. Edge wall 23a is provided with a window opening 24 in which a magnifiying lens 25 is mounted. When cover member 23 is properly positioned in recess 11, lens 25 will be located directly over a portion of strip which lies on the upper guide surface of top wall 15c. Edge wall 23a is also provided with a longitudinal slot 26 adjacent one edge thereof, through which extends the upper edge portion of manually actuable gear 18a. Gear 18a can be manually rotated by an operator to move a selected portion of tape 20 into position for viewing through lens 25.

End surface 13 of recess 11 has its corner portions 13a cut away at the side walls with a portion of the easing edge wall extending thereover. The side walls 23b and 23c of cover member 23 each have one end thereof formed to fit into the corresponding cut-away corner portion 13a to lock that end of cover member 23 in the recess. The remaining center portion of end surface 13 fits snugly between the side walls 23b and 230 to prevent lateral movements of cover member 23. In like manner, a portion of the casing edge wall extends over the ends of side wall members 2312 and 230 to prevent upward movements thereof. The other ends of cover member side walls 23b and 230 are again sloped to conform to and fit against sloping end surface 14. When placed in this position in recess 11, the outer surface of cover member 23 is flush with the outer surface of casing 10. To releasably lock the cover member 23 in this position, raised center portion 140 and side walls 23b and 230 are provided with aligned openings 27 and 28 respectively. A spring bar 29 is positioned in opening 27 with spring loaded tips thereof extending through the aligned openings 28 in the side walls of cover member 23. Cover member 23 can be removed by pushing the spring loaded tips inwardly out of opening 28. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ends of frame side walls 15a and 15b are provided with slots that fit over the tips of spring bar 29.

The present embodiment was designed initially for mounting in a cigarette lighter as shown. However, the same basic mechanism could also be mounted in a key chain, bracelet or other item. Further, the scroll or tape 20 of the present invention carries the baseball schedules for the two major leagues instead of the usual calendar as in the prior art. However, it could be used as well to display other schedules or to display a moveable calendar.

Second Embodiment: The second embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGs. 4-6 of the drawings. The scroll winding device includes a frame 30 having a pair of spaced, parallel side walls 30a and 30b connected by a top wall 300 having an upper guide surface. Top wall 300 is considerably shorter than the side walls and is positioned closer to one end of the side walls than the other. A pair of circular cross section tape guide members 31 and 32 extend between the side walls 30a 30b at the opposite ends of top wall 30c.

A pair of parallel arbors 33 and 34 extend between and are rotatably mounted in the side walls 30a and 30b, below the plane of top wall 300. Arbor 33 is located generally below top wall 30c, and arbor 34 is located beyond one end thereof between tape guide member 32 and the ends of the side walls. A tape-like scroll or strip 35 having indicia printed thereon or otherwise carried thereby, is looped around top wall 30c and tape guide members 31 and 32, and has its opposite ends coupled to the arbors 33 and 34 for rotation therewith.

A pair of toothed gears 36 and 37 are mounted on the ends of arbors 33 and 34 respectively, adjacent the outer surface of frame side wall 30b. Rotation of either gear 36 or 37 causes like rotation of its corresponding arbor 33 or 34. By rotating one or the other of the gears 36 or 37 in the proper direction, scroll 35 can be transferred from one of the arbors to the other to sequentially pass different portions of the scroll over the guide surface of top wall 30c.

The arbor gears 36 and 37 each have a continuous groove 36a, 37a in the peripheral outer edge thereof. Mounted on the side wall 30b adjacent the gears 36 and 37 are a pair of posts 39 and 40 each having a small hole' bored transversely therethrough. Mounted on the posts 39 and 40 are a pair of torsion springs 41 and 42 each having one end extending through the hole in the corresponding post, with an adjacent portion thereof being wrapped around the post and the free end resting or riding in the corresponding grooves 36a 37a. The springs 41 and 42 are biased toward the corresponding gears 36 and 37 so that they frictionally engage and restrain movements of the gears. Thus, when one of the gears is rotated to a particular position, it will tend to remain in that position because of the bias of the corresponding spring.

Mounted between the gears 36 and 37 is an actuator gear 43 having an axle 43a. Axle 43a is both rotatably and slidably mounted on the frame for selective engagement with one or the other of the arbor gears 36 and 37. As shown in FIG. 5, the inner end of axle 43a is positioned in an elongated slot 44 formed in side wall 30b. The outer end of axle 43a is mounted in a corresponding slot 45 formed in a generally diamond-shape support plate 46 secured to side wall 30b by a post 47. Slots 44 and 45 are elongated in a direction parallel with top wall 30c. Thus, actuator gear 43 can be both rotated and longitudinally moved in the two slots.

If actuator gear 43 is moved to the left as shown in FIG. 4, it engages gear 36 so that arbor 33 can be rotated. In this position of engagement with gear 36, gear 43 will not engage gear 37. Gear 36 can thus be rotated to move the scroll from arbor 34 and arbor 33. If it is desired to move the scroll in the opposite directions, gear 43 can be slided to the other end of the slots to engage gear 37, to thereby transfer the scroll from arbor 33 to arbor 34. When the scroll 35 reaches a desired position, the rotation is discontinued. Scroll 35 will remain in a taut condition because of the biasing action of the two springs 41 and 42. If any slackness of the scroll does occur, it will be taken up immediately as soon as one of the arbors is rotated in the proper direction.

The scroll winding frame 30 of FIGS. 4-6 has the same basic configuration as the frame of the first embodiment. Thus, the scroll winding device of FIGS. 4-6 can be assembled into the complete unit as heretofore described for the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3. Actuator gear 43 will then extend through slot 26 of the cover to permit manual actuation thereof. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, it can be seen that when thumb or finger pressure is applied to actuator gear 43 to move it in a counterclockwise direction, it automatically slides to the left to engage gear 36 to rotate it in a clockwise direction. Arbor 33 is thus rotated in a clockwise direction to move the tape to that arbor from arbor 34. If thumb pressure is applied to gear 43 to rotate it in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 4, it automatically slides to the right of the two slots and engages gear 37 causing gear 37 and arbor 34 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, to thereby transfer the tape 35 from arbor 33 to arbor 34.

What is claimed is:

l. A miniature scroll winding device comprising:

a. an elongated rectangular frame having a top wall with opposite ends defining an upper guide surface, and a pair of spaced, generally parallel side walls connected generally perpendicular thereto;

b. a pair of parallel, coplanar arbors extending be tween and rotatably mounted in said frame side walls below the plane of said upper guide surface, at least one of said arbors being mounted between said ends of said top wall;

0. an arbor gear on each of said arbors adjacent one of said side walls; an actuator gear mounted on an axle; an elongated slot formed in said one side wall between said arbors and parallel to the plane of said arbors, and means rotatably and slidably mounting said axle therein to permit selective engagement of said actuator gear with one or the other of said arbor gears;

f. a tape-like scroll having opposite ends, and having indicia impressed thereon, looped around said top wall and having said opposite ends thereof coupled to said pair of arbors respectively, for rotation therewith to permit a selected portion of said scroll to be positioned on said upper guide surface upon selective engagement of said actuator gear with one of said arbor gears; and 1 g. said arbor gears each having a continuous groove in the peripheral outer edge thereof perpendicular to the arbor axis, and a pair of springs mounted on said one frame side wall adjacent thereto having free ends of each of said springs riding in said grooves to frictionally restrain movements of said gears, said arbors being mounted between said springs. 

1. A miniature scroll winding device comprising: a. an elongated rectangular frame having a top wall with opposite ends defining an upper guide surface, and a pair of spaced, generally parallel side walls connected generally perpendicular thereto; b. a pair of parallel, coplanar arbors extending between and rotatably mounted in said frame side walls below the plane of said upper guide surface, at least one of said arbors being mounted between said ends of said top wall; c. an arbor gear on each of said arbors adjacent one of said side walls; d. an actuator gear mounted on an axle; e. an elongated slot formed in said one side wall between said arbors and parallel to the plane of said arbors, and means rotatably and slidably mounting said axle therein to permit selective engagement of said actuator gear with one or the other of said arbor gears; f. a tape-like scroll having opposite ends, and having indicia impressed thereon, looped around said top wall and having said opposite ends thereof coupled to said pair of arbors respectively, for rotation therewith to permit a selected portion of said scroll to be positioned on said upper guide surface upon selective engagement of said actuator gear with one of said arbor gears; and g. said arbor gears each having a continuous groove in the peripheral outer edge thereof perpendicular to the arbor axis, and a pair of springs mounted on said one frame side wall adjacent thereto having free ends of each of said springs riding in said grooves to frictionally restrain movements of said gears, said arbors being mounted between said springs. 